Correlating Pharmacist Drug Therapy Management Competency Assessment Scores with Didactic Education

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/edwk24/1006/thumbnail.jp

The Impact of School Nurses: A Program Evaluation of K-12 School Nursing in the Commonwealth of Virginia

Since the early 1900s, the provision of school nursing and school health services in the K-12 educational setting has been an important component of supporting student academic success, reducing student absenteeism, and promoting positive health outcomes in the United States. The Commonwealth of Virginia was historically one of the first states in the U.S. to employ school nurses. K-12 schools in Virginia have continued to support the practice of school nursing for over 100 years; however, the Virginia state legislature has not formalized a requirement for school nurses in the state code. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is responsible for ensuring quality and consistency in K-12 educational delivery in Virginia and also provides recommendations, training, and support for school health services in the Commonwealth. The current project is the result of a collaboration between VDOE and a capstone team of Doctor of Education students from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education. VDOE sought a detailed understanding of best practices in school nursing, the current practice of school nursing in Virginia, and recommendations for improving school health services in the state. The project involved a review of published literature related to school nursing; a review of current school nursing practices in the states of Delaware, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia; qualitative data analysis based on interviews and focus groups conducted with school nursing stakeholders in Virginia; and the development of recommendations for action steps that VDOE can take to promote the practice of school nursing in the state. Enhancing school nursing services can lead to improved academic achievement, reduced absenteeism, and better health outcomes for K-12 students

Microbial community dynamics during lake ice freezing

Many freshwater environments experience dramatic seasonal changes with some systems remaining ice-covered for most of the winter. Freshwater systems are also highly sensitive to environmental change. However, little is known about changes in microbial abundance and community composition during lake ice formation and times of persistent ice cover. The goal of this study is to characterize temporal dynamics of microbial communities during ice formation and persistent ice cover. Samples were collected in triplicate, five days per week from surface water in the Keweenaw Waterway between November and April. Environmental conditions along with microbial abundance and microbial community composition was determined. Distinct community composition was found between ice-free and ice-covered time periods with significantly different community composition between months. The microbial community underwent dramatic shifts in microbial abundance and diversity during the transitions into and out of ice cover. The richness of the microbial community increased during times of ice cover. Relatives of microbes involved in nitrogen cycling bloomed during times of ice cover as sequences related to known nitrifying taxa were significantly enriched during ice cover. These results help to elucidate how microbial abundance and diversity change over drastic seasonal transitions and how ice cover may affect microbial abundance and diversity

The Mass of the Candidate Exoplanet Companion to HD136118 from Hubble Space Telescope Astrometry and High-Precision Radial Velocities

We use Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor astrometry and high-cadence radial velocities for HD136118 from the HET with archival data from Lick to determine the complete set of orbital parameters for HD136118b. We find an orbital inclination for the candidate exoplanet of i_{b} = 163.1 +- 3.0 deg. This establishes the actual mass of the object, M_{b} = 42^{+11}_{-18} MJup, in contrast to the minimum mass determined from the radial velocity data only, M_{b}sin{i} ~ 12 MJup. Therefore, the low-mass companion to HD 136118 is now identified as a likely brown dwarf residing in the "brown dwarf desert".Comment: 35 pages, 12 figures, 10 tables. Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

Can fishing tourism contribute to conservation and sustainability via ecotourism?: a case study of the Fishery for Giant African Threadfin Polydactylus quadrifilis on the Kwanza Estuary, Angola

It has been suggested that tourism fisheries can raise the value of landed catch, provide alternative livelihoods for local artisanal fishers and, because recreationally caught fishes are often released, simultaneously conserve stocks. However, for fishing tourism to meet ecotourism standards, sustainable, local economic benefit is imperative. This study aimed to assess the direct economic contribution of the recreational fishery for Polydactylus quadrifilis on the Kwanza Estuary, Angola. The recreational fishery contributed significantly to economic productivity in an otherwise rural area, generating a total revenue (TR) of $236,826 per four-month fishing season

Maintaining Texas State Board of Pharmacy Licensure with Employer-Driven Continuing Education

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/edwk22/1003/thumbnail.jp

Understanding the Virginia Literacy Act

This research and policy brief from the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) offers an overview of the Virginia Literacy Act. It is structured to explore the following questions: 1) What are the recent trends in reading achievement in Virginia? 2) What are the policy implications of the VLA for Virginia school divisions? 3) What does the research say about Science of Reading (SoR)? 4) What core instructional programs are approved to meet the VLA? It concludes with a series of key takeaways and recommendations

The Abca7V1613M variant reduces Aβ generation, plaque load, and neuronal damage

BackgroundVariants in ABCA7, a member of the ABC transporter superfamily, have been associated with increased risk for developing late onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD).MethodsCRISPR-Cas9 was used to generate an Abca7V1613M variant in mice, modeling the homologous human ABCA7V1599M variant, and extensive characterization was performed.ResultsAbca7V1613M microglia show differential gene expression profiles upon lipopolysaccharide challenge and increased phagocytic capacity. Homozygous Abca7V1613M mice display elevated circulating cholesterol and altered brain lipid composition. When crossed with 5xFAD mice, homozygous Abca7V1613M mice display fewer Thioflavin S-positive plaques, decreased amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides, and altered amyloid precursor protein processing and trafficking. They also exhibit reduced Aβ-associated inflammation, gliosis, and neuronal damage.DiscussionOverall, homozygosity for the Abca7V1613M variant influences phagocytosis, response to inflammation, lipid metabolism, Aβ pathology, and neuronal damage in mice. This variant may confer a gain of function and offer a protective effect against Alzheimer's disease-related pathology.HighlightsABCA7 recognized as a top 10 risk gene for developing Alzheimer's disease. Loss of function mutations result in increased risk for LOAD. V1613M variant reduces amyloid beta plaque burden in 5xFAD mice. V1613M variant modulates APP processing and trafficking in 5xFAD mice. V1613M variant reduces amyloid beta-associated damage in 5xFAD mice

Identifying Mage-A4-Positive Tumors for TCR T Cell Therapies in Hla-A∗02-Eligible Patients

T cell receptor (TCR) T cell therapies target tumor antigens in a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-restricted manner. Biomarker-defined therapies require validation of assays suitable for determination of patient eligibility. For clinical trials evaluating TCR T cell therapies targeting melanoma-associated antigen A4 (MAGE-A4), screening in studies NCT02636855 and NCT04044768 assesses patient eligibility based on: (1) high-resolution HLA typing and (2) tumor MAGE-A4 testing via an immunohistochemical assay in HLA-eligible patients. The HLA/MAGE-A4 assays validation, biomarker data, and their relationship to covariates (demographics, cancer type, histopathology, tissue location) are reported here. HLA-A∗02 eligibility was 44.8% (2,959/6,606) in patients from 43 sites across North America and Europe. While HLA-A∗02:01 was the most frequent HLA-A∗02 allele, others (A∗02:02, A∗02:03, A∗02:06) considerably increased HLA eligibility in Hispanic, Black, and Asian populations. Overall, MAGE-A4 prevalence based on clinical trial enrollment was 26% (447/1,750) across 10 solid tumor types, and was highest in synovial sarcoma (70%) and lowest in gastric cancer (9%). The covariates were generally not associated with MAGE-A4 expression, except for patient age in ovarian cancer and histology in non-small cell lung cancer. This report shows the eligibility rate from biomarker screening for TCR T cell therapies and provides epidemiological data for future clinical development of MAGE-A4-targeted therapies